Graduate Certificate and Online M.B.A.

Gain business knowledge for your career in eye care

The Business Management Certificate for Eye Care Professionals prepares you with practical business intelligence, management skills, and research tools to run a successful practice in the eye care industry.

The Online M.B.A. with emphasis in the Business of Eye Care is a first-of-its-kind program that combines all the benefits of an M.B.A. with a targeted eye care curriculum and the flexibility of web-based learning. The online format accommodates life changes and moves across time zones—so that you can continue living your life and building your career.

Both the certificate and M.B.A. are offered through Kelley Executive Degree Programs.

Transitioning to an online M.B.A.

The Business Management Certificate for Eye Care Professionals is designed to be completed over the course of 12 months.

After you’ve earned your Business Management Certificate, you can transfer up to 12 of your credit hours to the Online MBA with emphasis in the Business of Eye Care. Once you transfer your credits, you’ll have already completed one third of the credits required to graduate with an M.B.A.

Program eligibility

The graduate certificate and M.B.A. are designed for:

Current students at the IU School of Optometry or another professional optometry school

Practicing optometrists

Non-O.D. professionals who are working in various support and management roles

Course options

While earning your Business Management Certificate, you may choose an emphasis in management or finance. Most courses are taught through Kelley Executive Degree Programs; however, the IU School of Optometry offers additional courses to fulfill the certificate requirement.

Quantitative Analysis (3 credit hours)

This course enhances your statistical and mathematical modeling skills, covering the following topics:

Probabilistic decision making

Regression analysis

Forecasting

Simulation with @RISK

Optimization modeling

Making decisions when multiple objectives are involved

Using neutral networks to improve forecasting

Economics for Managers (3 credit hours)

In this course, you will learn about:

Economic decision making in the business firm

The strategic interaction of business firms in industries

The purchasing and behavior of individual consumers and consumers as a group

The influence of public policy on market outcomes

You’ll also develop:

A fluency with the language of economics and a strong “economic intuition”

The skills to analyze intra-industry rivalry

An improved understanding of public policy issues

There will be an emphasis on the logical foundations of economic analysis and managerial decision making to promote the understanding and application of various quantitative measures.

Strategic Marketing Management (3 credit hours)

An introduction to the process of creating a market-driven organization. Specific course topics will include:

Marketing strategy

Market research and analysis

Development of products and services, pricing, distribution, and promotion

The course employs lectures, classroom discussion through threaded discussion forums, case analysis, and field research projects.

Quantitative Analysis (3 credit hours)

This course enhances your statistical and mathematical modeling skills, covering the following topics:

Probabilistic decision making

Regression analysis

Forecasting

Simulation with @RISK

Optimization modeling

Making decisions when multiple objectives are involved

Using neutral networks to improve forecasting

Managing Accounting Information for Decision Making (3 credit hours)

Gain a user-oriented understanding of how accounting information should be managed to ensure its availability on a timely and relevant basis for decision making. The first part of the course reviews financial accounting and reporting while the second part of the course focuses on cost-benefit analysis for evaluating the potential value-added results from planning, organizing, and controlling a firm’s accounting information. The use of cases, forum discussions, and computer support is used extensively.

Financial Management (3 credit hours)

In this course, you will:

Develop a working knowledge of the tools and analytical conventions used in the practice of corporate finance

Establish an understanding of the basic elements of financial theory to be used in application of analytical reasoning to business problems

Explore the interrelationship among corporate policies and decisions

Your coursework will include problem sets, study group preparation of executive summary memos and critiques, and the use of PC spreadsheets to develop a planning model for a case focusing on funds requirement.

Aspects of Practice Transitions (3 credit hours)

This course is designed to serve as a guide through the process of joining a practice as an associate or adding an associate as a practicing doctor. We help students understand and analyze a practice’s financial statements. Students will learn the preferred mechanisms for practice transfer, the assessment of a practice’s lifecycle, the process of establishing true costs for adding associate doctors, strategies for practice growth, associate recruitment/pay options, practice valuation, and common contractual elements to consider.